Leopards Three-Peat at Salem Early Bird Invitational – Cross Country
The Louisville Leopards Cross Country Teams competed at the Salem Early Bird Invitational Saturday at Salem Memorial Park. This was the third straight season the Louisville Cross Country programs raced at the Salem Early Bird Invitational. The Boys won the invitational for the third straight year posting a score of 43 to take first place out of 15 teams.
The Lady Leopards finished with 202 total places to claim 8th place out of 15 schools at the meet.
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Boys 43 (1st Out of 15)
Five Leopard juniors finished in the top 18 as Louisville won the Salem Early Bird Invitational for the third straight year. Bobby Ganser (16:54.89) clocked in second and Colby Adams (17:02.38) finished just behind him in third place to lead the Leopards. Only Marlington’s Noah Graham (16:43.54) finished ahead of Ganser and Adams in winning the invitational individually.
Rounding out the Louisville top five were Stephen Ulrich (17:32.96) taking 9th, Sam Chlebeck (17:39.76) in 11th, and Owen Pukys (18:04.90) placing 18th. Freshman Grant Brown (18:30.07) also made his varsity debut finishing 26th and junior Calvin Kiko (19:16.09) came in 46th against a field of 103 runners.
The Marlington Dukes (78) took second place finishing with 35 total places more than the dominate Leopards. The Perry Panthers also took third with a team score of 85.
Girls 202 (8th Out of 15)
Junior Diana Pukys (22:38.89) took 24th and sophomore Sophia Mackall (22:40.31) placed 26th to lead the Lady Leopards at Salem. Others scoring for Louisville included sophomore Chloe Cole (23:26.13) taking 36th, junior Aliya Shine (24:22.92) coming in 54th, and junior Summer Gronow (25:17.95) placing 62nd.
Freshman Hayley Smith (25:44.85) also made her varsity debut in taking 67th against a field of 98 runners.
The Boardman Spartans finished with 3 runners in the top 9 to win the invitational with a team score of 55. The Maplewood Rockets finished just behind them in second place with 60 and the Howland Tigers took third place with 97. Marlington sophomore Bella Graham (19:08.16) captured first place individually for the Lady Dukes.